Neil Patrick Harris Explains Why He Isn't Married to David Burtka

The 'Muppets' actor opens up in a recent magazine interview that he 'didn't want to go marching down the street with camera crews,' before adding, 'I wouldn't want to get married to be an example.'

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Neil Patrick Harris is opening up about why he and his longtime partner, David Burtka, have yet to tie the knot despite their long engagement. In a recent interview with Details Magazine, the 38-year-old said, "It's complicated," before explaining, "David proposed to me five and a half years ago in New York on the same street corner where we met."

"The following year on Valentine's Day in Santa Monica, one of my gifts was a ring and I proposed to him," he continued. "Then, when the marriage-equality stuff was on the tipping point in New York, where we have residency because we have an apartment there, it seemed my responsibility to at least tweet about it - to say, 'Please vote for marriage equality in New York, it would be nice to get married someday.' "

"It passed, and then someone tweeted David asking if we were going to get married, to which David replied, 'Yes, I proposed to Neil and he proposed to me.' Which I think sounded immediate and wasn't. It's exactly what we didn't want to do, because we contemplated getting married in California, before the Prop 8 debacle, and I opted not to immediately because I didn't want it to be a media event."

The actor who makes a cameo in "The Muppets" went on to say, "I didn't want to go marching down the street with camera crews. Oy. To get married? Really? It seems like you have an agenda when you do it that way. I wouldn't want to get married to be an example. I'm hoping we'll be able to get married in California soon, but there are no plans afoot."

Asked if he feels any responsibility to represent on the gay marriage issue, the Barney Stinson of "How I Met Your Mother" replied, "No." He explained his ground as saying, "Everyone has an individual experience. To try to declare yourself a larger representative is dangerous. I just do my thing, we have our life."